Docklands History Group meeting Wednesday 5 February 2020 The Name of the By Dr Laura Wright, Reader in English Language, University of Cambridge

Laura said that the Isle of Dogs today refers to the land within the meander of the in East . It was not originally an island but was artificially made into one in 1802 by the West India Docks Canal, but this was almost 300 years after the name came into use. Strype (1710) Cunningham (1849 Vol 2 417) and Mills (200:121) had given the following explanations for the name:

1. A waterman murdered a man there and his dog would not leave him. Only one dog was mentioned and was supposed to have happened 200 years after the name was in use. 2. Kennels for hunting dogs used on the marsh were sited there. No evidence, and again claim made 200 years after first attested usage of the name. 3. It was changed from Isle of Ducks or Docks. No use of either had been found and there was no obvious motivation for such a change. 4. It was Isle of Dogges after fourteenth century fishing vessels. No evidence and historically nowhere for fishing vessels to call. 5. Wild dogs found or dead dogs washed up there. Why specifically there? The same must have applied elsewhere. No evidence as to whether this was true or not. 6. It alludes to the Canary Islands because Latin Insulae Canariae means “island of dogs”. It has but this name only appeared in 1936 when the wharf was used for unloading fruit from the Canary Islands. No other connection has been found.

In 1520 the name “Isle of Dogs” was first attested. Before that it was called Marsh. The name “Stepney Marsh” was relatively well documented by a field survey around 1400 and the wills of several landlords. There was a settlement in the marsh, at its southern end, from at least the second half of the twelfth century. The Manor House there was owned by William de Pontefract. Around it was a chapel and a few houses. In 1448 there was a breach of the river wall opposite Strond and following this the hamlet was abandoned. The river walls were often allowed to fall into disrepair and it is recorded that an inquisition was held into the neglect of the wall’s repair by one Iohn Harpour.

In 1520 the place name “Isle of Dogs” referred to a specific area of Stepney Marsh opposite Deptford Strond, specifically opposite the Royal Dockyard at Deptford. In an accounts book of Henry VIII’s dockyard, which had only been in existence for seven years, the Isle of Dogs was mentioned as a berth in October 1520. It read “Mary George lynge at doke at theille of dogges afor Deptford”. Laura added that the word “opposite” would not have been used at that date. Five years later in October 1526 the Mary George was again mentioned in the accounts book as “lythe rppon the sowthe syde of the Ile of doggis and must be calkyd wine and borde and woughte also she must be seerchyd for wurmehoolys because she hath ben in Leevaunte”.

The first map evidence Laura had found was Robert Adams’ map of the Thames in 1588. Robert Adams was Surveyor of Works to Queen Elizabeth I and produced the map in response to the threat of the Spanish Armada, to show the defences of the kingdom. It showed a boom and forts on either side of the River Thames and arcs of fire by the guns. The labelling of the map included natural features which enabled the riverbank to be identified from on board ship. Two labels appeared on Stepney Marsh, Saunders Nesse, “nesse” meant a bend and “Ile of Dogges”, the latter was by two small islands in a breach opposite Deptford.

The field survey of circa 1400 mentioned two islands named Wereye and Madeye. In old English “wer” plus “ieg”, meant “Weir Island” and “maed” plus “ieg” “Mead Island”. Laura speculated that they were the pre-1520 names of the eyots, bestowed by those who worked in the marsh catching fish in weirs and farming sheep in meadows. Eyots in the Thames shifted in shape over time and some have disappeared altogether. They might have been one eyot which appeared to be two at high water. The names “Isle of Dogs” for the two eyots would not have been inappropriate. There are today eyots upriver at but she said the two Stepney eyots have now disappeared. B. H. Cooper recorded that the two eyots were positioned where Messrs Ferguson’s mast pond was situated in 1853, and were by an indentation in the river bank, next to Drunken Dock.

To recap, the eyots may not have predated 1448, but may have resulted from the flooding of the marsh. The dating and context made it likely that the name or nickname “Isle of Dogs” was bestowed by workers in Deptford Dockyard on Weir Island and Mead Island, as they were the ones who created a dock out of the eyots.

A bark was a small, masted sailing vessel. Henry VIII built up the navy and half of his fleet were named at that time as barks. Bigger islands had become known as “isles’ from the Latin “insula”. Laura wondered whether this was a Tudor dockers word-play, the grandiose downstream “isle” had been applied bathetically to very small islets and the name “dogs” bestowed as a pun on the eyots at Stepney harbouring barks. In the sixteenth century the spelling was always “bark” not “barque”. Laura thought the pun was possible, but it did not mean it was certainly the origin of the place name “Isle of Dogs”.

John Norden’s map of of 1593 identified “Isle of Dogs Ferm [farm]” where Pomfret’s had been previously. It did not follow that the name applied elsewhere and the evidence was that the area had still been known as Stepney Marsh until at least 1600 and indeed considerably later.

There was ample evidence that writers of Tudor literature enjoyed word-play. Whether or not Tudor dockworkers did is not known but there has in more recent centuries been a tradition of London workers using word-play as an integral part of their working day.

In 1597 Johnson and Nash wrote and performed a satirical comedy “Isle of Dogs”. The play was said to contain seditious and slanderous matters. Its authors were accused of lewd and mutinous behaviour. Donaldson speculated that the severity of the response was due to it touching upon matters of national defence. Could it have meant a place where warships were fitted out? The main priority that year was to prevent attack from the Spanish Armada. Elizabeth I’s two main councillors were Sir Robert Cecil and the Earl of who were quarrelling, there was a rebellion in Ireland, and the wheat harvest was failing. Elizabeth made the Earl of Essex Master of the Ordnance. In early April two fleets were planned, one to lie off the Spanish coast and intercept the Armada and the second to follow and be the striking force, but Elizabeth delayed her permission until May. Twenty-eight ships of war together with transports were fitted out and the two-fleet plan was dropped. Essex was put in charge of the fleet and instructed to destroy the Armada at Ferrol and afterwards sail to the Azores to intercept the Spanish treasure ships. Storms caused half the fleet to return and the other half put on a show for the Spanish and then returned to re-group. Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh, frustrated by bad weather, wanted to sail to the West Indies after treasure ships, but the Queen, worried about the armada, forbade it. In August the fleet again sailed for Ferrol and was becalmed. Essex then went on to the Azores, but not finding the armada there and encountering bad weather he set sail for home unaware that, hearing the English were in the Azores looking for it, the armada had set sail for . That year England was saved because, due to storms, the armada had been forced to return to Spain. Many of Essex’s ships had been built at Deptford and Deptford dockyard was very busy during this period. If the play was written when Deptford Dockyard was fitting out the fleet for war, then any satirical criticism might well have been perceived as a threat to national security.

In conclusion, Laura hypothesised word-play on barks berthed at Stepney Eyots, hinging on the meaning of the word “bark” and the fact the place name was first known in the context of Deptford Dockyard in 1520. The pun was possible, but not necessarily the correct explanation. What was certain was that sixteenth century dockworkers used the name “Isle of Dogs” for the eyots opposite their yard, rather than for the whole of Stepney Marsh.

Laura Wright, precis by Sally Mashiter. 22 June 2020